Discovery Communications

Zebra

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Where You'll Most Likely Find Me: Grasslands and woodlands of eastern and southern Africa.

What I Like to Eat: Twigs, leaves, bark, shrubs and grass.

Betcha Didn't Know This About Me: Each of us has a different black and white stripe pattern that is unique to us, just like your fingerprints are unique to you.

Social Beings: We love to socialize with one another and live together in large groups we call harems or herds. Within the herds live several family groups. The male zebra or the stallion, is head of the family group. The group also consists of several female zebras (mares) and the family's children. They do everything together - graze, groom each other, sleep and roam. The stallion will mate with more than one mare in its group. When the baby (foal) is born, its cared for by all of the mares in the family group. Sometimes several herds will roam together bringing the numbers of a single zebra sighting in the wild to the hundreds.

Family Ties: We are cousins to the horse and wild ass.

Camouflage: When we roam together, the vision of black and white stripes seen all at once make it difficult for potential predators to try and attack us individually. When the sun goes down, these stripes make it even harder for predators to see us.

First Aid: When one of our own is attacked, we immediately circle the wagons and go into protection mode to care for the injured and protect it from any further attack. As a large group, we will face off with the predator if it dares attempt to be aggressive a second time.

Predators: We have to be on the constant lookout for attacks by leopards, lions, hyenas and wild dogs. We sleep standing up, and while we drink water, some members of the herd will keep their heads held up for any sighting of predators. They will verbally signal the others about the danger on the horizon.